Seed Potato Certification Scheme

Only certified basic or pre-basic seed may be imported or marketed in the state. The Department has a team of inspectors throughout the country who implement the certification scheme for seed potatoes. Ireland implements higher disease and pest control standards for seed potatoes compared to most other EU member states.

The department has set out a series of standards that must be met for seed potatoes to be certified. For example, the Land Parcel Identification System Number (LPIS No) must be provided for each land parcel that is entered for certification. Crops must not be grown in land where potatoes were grown in any of the six previous years for pre-basic crops, or the three previous years for basic crops. A certificate will not be awarded to any grower unless all the land in which seed potatoes are grown is found to be free from Potato Cyst Nematodes (Eelworm).

Only certified pre-basic or basic seed (except for Union Grade E seed) is eligible for planting for entry into the Certification Scheme.

Inspectors examine the crop to ensure the rules of the scheme are complied with. These include the following:

• where a variety is grown in more than one plot, all plots of that variety must be presented for inspection
• a crop grown in the same field as another crop, the health of which is not up to certification standard, may be rejected for certification or downgraded
• crops must be carefully cultivated, according to accepted good practice
• crops, which are badly blighted, under-developed, neglected or damaged, will not be certified
• roguing prior to first inspection is not permitted in pre-basic crops
• when roguing is done, diseased plants, rogues, bolters, wildings and other off types, must be dug out (not pulled) and removed from the field by the grower

Varieties closely resembling each other will not be certified for the same grower. All boxes of potatoes in a store must be labelled to allow traceability to the field of origin. Applications for the supply of plant passports should be made to the local potato inspector. All seed submitted for final inspection should be held in new and clean packages or containers. Seed should be presented as ready for sealing.

Growers must comply with all the conditions of the scheme.

The certification fee is €110 per hectare for all crops that are inspected, whether subsequently classified or not. Applications for certification will not be accepted from any grower who has not paid all fees owed to the department for certification services that were provided to that grower in a previous year.

For application forms and further information click here.

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